Monday, June 22, 2009

On Father's Day I decided to go out to put some long miles in rural country. This adventure included one of my favorite spots to climb. Known as Alma Hill Road, in Alma NY, it happens to be the highest point in Western New York at 760m above sea level. At 4 miles and 1000 feet of climbing on dirty, grainy, rain washed road at an average of 5-6% gradient (steepest around 12%), it will quickly tell you whether you are in climbing shape, or if you aren't, readily provide a poorly done road before you to blame and vent your frustration onto.

This breezy, rainy day here in the enchanted mountains region saw me riding to Alma, Wellsville, and down south into darn rural Pennsylvania before I took the difficult highway 6 with 15mph headwind and rain to Port Allegany. From there, I rode up north to Eldred PA, switched left onto Duke Center, and climbed back into New York via one of the leg tinglers of this area, Oil Valley Road (546). From there it was all downhill to Olean, NY which is, kind of home at the moment for me.

Uff! All this trouble just to show you the kind of places I ride in! Check out the pics, all of them taken by me on the saddle while riding at good pace - an artform I call cyclophotography. Enjoy now and come ride with us sometime. This is a great place if you enjoy carefree cycling, among little but Mother Nature. Contact me if you have questions.

110 Miles

7 hours saddle time

Route 44 at Ceres into Pennsylvania

Brimmer Brook Road To Alma, NY

Alma Hill Road

Nothing but a crappy AT&T tower on the peak to greet you after you achievement

Breathtaking descent into Wellsville, NY

Road south to Eleven Mile, entering PA

Route 44 to Coneville, PA

Whitney Creek Road, a mellow climb with a connection to Route 6 via a fast descent on Fishing Creek Road

Long way on 346 towards Prentisvale and Duke Center. Check out those looming clouds.

Oil Valley Road up to Knapp Creek, NY (while the glory days of petroleum in the north east are over, this region was, for several decades in the late 1800's, the most important oil-producing region in the world. Known since the1860's as the Oil Regions, western Pennsylvania (and the adjacent area in southwestern New York) has an oil history that predates European settlement. Read more here)

Final descent into Olean, NY. We're back in the Enchanted Mountains. Thank you for checking!

3 comments:

Wow. I just did my first ever "big" rural ride on Saturday. I went about 44 miles on my fixed gear. It hurt, not too too much, but it did hurt. You have my admiration... maybe with a little more practice and the right bike I will get there someday.

I love fixies. I used to do centuries on fixed gear in and around Niagara Falls and Lake Ontario. But ofcourse they were mostly flat. To me, I think with the high cadence you set on the fixie, provided you have the right gearing, your muscles don't tire out that fast. Its a theory, but for me, it worked. Many think that pedaling constantly at 80-90 RPM with no coasting for 100 miles is a sufferfest. Not really.